It's about more than just sequins and teeny-tiny skirts — keep your eyes peeled for these factoids as you watch the Olympics this year.

1. The dresses can have up to 100,000 crystals each.

1. The dresses can have up to 100,000 crystals each.

“Each crystal has to be applied by hand,” says Brad Griffies, the ice-skating costume designer who created the dress worn by U.S. champion Gracie Gold at this year’s National Championships (above). “So the more crystals, the more expensive the dress.” According to Griffies the dress itself usually only takes about 2-4 hours to make, but the crystals can take anywhere from 4-40 hours to apply.

2. Skaters usually only buy one or two costumes per season.

2. Skaters usually only buy one or two costumes per season.

Skaters are more like real people than you'd think — they do, in fact, wear the same costume multiple times. “These costumes are expensive and skaters don’t make a lot of money, so they usually wear the same ones all season,” Griffies says. “The blue dress I made Gracie for the national championships cost $1,500, but I’ve made costumes for her that cost $3,000.”

Some estimates put the most expensive skating dresses at around $5,000, but the actual number could be much higher, especially when someone like Vera Wang is designing. Wang famously made costumes for both Michelle Kwan and Nancy Kerrigan (above) and is rumored to be designing Gracie’s costumes for the Olympics as well. “As far as I know, Gracie will be wearing the same dresses at the Olympics that I designed for her for the national championships,” Griffies says, “but if Vera Wang offers to work with her, who knows. I guess I’ll find out when she skates.”